What do you get when you mash up the entrepreneurialism of Shark Tank with the cultural relevance of The Voice? Apple's new reality show, Planet of the Apps.
We first got wind of the show back in July, but in typical Apple fashion, details — including the still unknown release date — have been hush-hush. But at yesterday's Code Media event, Apple finally unveiled the first trailer for the show, giving us a glimpse at what will go down over the course of the series.
If you've ever watched one of Apple's press events, you'll know that this trailer looks nothing like the videos that Apple films to preview the latest iPhone or MacBook. Those, which have been lovingly spoofed by late night comedians, feature sleek, slow-motion product images with voiceover from Chief Design Officer Jony Ive, whose pleasing, British accent should be used to record audiobooks.
The trailer for Planet of The Apps looks like the trailer for, well, any other challenge-based reality show. There are celebrity advisors with entrepreneurial endeavors of their own: Jessica Alba, founder of The Honest Company, Gwyneth Paltrow, founder of Goop, will.i.am, founder of i.am+, and Gary Vaynerchuk, founder of VaynerMedia. Then there are the young visionaries, who hope that their idea for an app will impress an advisor in a 60-second escalator pitch.
If they pass that first test, developers move on to a more official pitch to all four advisors, where they'll — emoji fingers crossed — get selected by one, who will coach them along the road to App Store glory. (And yes, there may be some low-key tension among Paltrow, Alba, will.i.am, and Vaynerchuk when more than one wants a developer on their team.)
Unlike Shark Tank, where the pitches are the bulk of the series, Planet of the Apps will take viewers through the development of each app, all leading up to a larger pitch to a major venture capital firm, Lightspeed Venture Partners. Apps that succeed will earn featured placement in the App Store.
The real question is, will victory on the show be enough to propel winners to Facebook or Snapchat-level fame? In the trailer, will.i.am says that developers are "the rock stars of right now" which is partially true, but only if you're Mark Zuckerberg or Evan Spiegel. Otherwise, you're one of many people who develop an app that never gets off the ground and dies a speedy App Store death a few updates later.
While the future of the contestants is fuzzy, stakes are much higher for Apple. If Planet of the Apps succeeds, it could put Apple on track to eventually compete with Netflix and Amazon. That is, the company could start earning legitimacy as a production company and creating Emmy and Golden Globe-worthy originals of its own. It would also mean that an Apple Music subscription becomes a necessity.
Either way, we should be in for some reality-level drama when the show premieres. During the trailer, Paltrow says she's about to cry, selfies are shot, and wide-eyed developers look so nervous they might puke on stage. Shit's about to get real.
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